WASHINGTON — The United States and Japan have agreed to make it easier to import each other’s
organic products, the latest step in a global effort that could give consumers access to more — and
cheaper — organic food.

The Agriculture Department announced an agreement last week between the United States and Japan
that will allow organic products to be certified in one of the countries and sold as organic in
both. The agreement will allow producers to sell their products in both countries without going
through the lengthy process of getting certified twice.

The agreement is similar to a 2009 deal with Canada and a 2012 deal with the European Union.
Agriculture officials say they are looking at agreements with other countries that could also make
it easier for U.S. organic farmers to sell abroad.

The result could be a flow of new products to the U.S. market and higher profit for U.S. organic
producers. According to the USDA, the most popular organic imports from Japan are green tea, sakes
and mushrooms. The department said the Canadian agreement has increased exported grains to the
United States, and the European pact has increased sales of their wines and olive oils.

The United States exports many more organics to Japan than it imports, and officials say the
agreement will be a boost for the burgeoning U.S. industry, one of the fastest-growing sectors of
agriculture. Organics have seen sales rise around 4 percent to

5 percent a year and now account for more than $30 billion in annual sales.

Japan imports a wide variety of organics from the United States, including soybeans, specialty
crops such as cauliflower and nuts, and processed products such as frozen meals. Under the
agreement, U.S. organic products sold there now will carry the USDA organic seal.

Annual organic sales to Japan from the United States now total around $80 million, and the USDA
estimates the new agreement could more than triple that amount to $250 million a year over the next
10 years.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agreement will create “good jobs for Americans across
the organic supply chain.”

For consumers, the agreement with Japan also should lead to lower prices and more variety, said
Laura Batcha of the Organic Trade Association. Companies that have had to pay for certification
twice will no longer have to pass those costs on to consumers. In agreeing to the deal, Japan
dropped its objections to two substances allowed in U.S. organic foods that are not allowed in
Japanese organic foods.

While most of the two countries’ organic standards are the same, Japan has not allowed its
organics to be produced with lignin sulfonate, a substance used in post-harvest fruit production,
or alkali-extracted humic acid, a fertilizer used to help grow a variety of organic crops. The
United States allows those substances.